StarFox II
by Silver Phantom 2
Summary: StarFox has come and gone. Their heirs now stand in the balance between the Power and the People. Will freedom ring? Or will the vacuum have it silenced? Note: Reposted due to circumstances
1. Introduction and Prologue

First, i ask that if you click on this story, don't be turned away by the Introduction. There's a bunch of new characters in this story and you don't know any of them. This is so you get to know the Characters and Setting. Second, here's a disclaimer for anything i don't own. Third, yes, this is the third time i'm posting this story because for some reason, my chapters got all screwed up and i wasn't able to see the only review i did get. So please, if you read this, i want to know how good it is so please take five seconds to give me an out-of-ten scale or your own personal comment.

Thank you, Silver Phantom 2

STARFOX II

SILVER PHANTOM 2

"Politics is war without bloodshed while war is politics with bloodshed."- Mao Tse-Tung

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Introduction

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Lylat System

28 Years following the Aparoid Invasion…

Fox and Krystal McCloud got married and had three children. Their oldest, Jewel McCloud resembled her mother and had her father's interest for adventure. The two younger twins, James Fox McCloud II and Maxwell Arin McCloud, were very different from one another. Jim's fur had the same color as his mother and shared the same natural beauty. Jim also inherited something of his mother's sixth sense. But Jim was more like his father in personality and shared the same love for flying and adventure as he did. Max looked like his dad. His red fur and natural speed gave him uncanny qualities, but was more like his mother in his search for knowledge and uncanny ability to just know things.

Jewel, Jim, and Max all learned the ways of the StarFox team at the same time. Fox called his class for StarFox recruits "StarFox High" because his trainees were all teens. Jewel learned between ages 16 through 18 and Jim and Max from 14 to 16. They all learned the basics and then their own personal skills. Jim eventually exposed his leader-like qualities and an exceptional skill for flying. He was definitely no fool with a blaster. Not so much better at flying was Jewel but she was definitely the future "public relations" of the team due to her accuracy and ruthlessness with a sniper rifle. Max's skill with computers proved useful as the team's technician.

Also enrolled in "StarFox High" was Bill Grey's youngest daughter Michelle. Michelle and Jim fell in love with each other and married once both were out of the "school." She was not so much as a fighter as a commander. She quickly grew accustomed to the cockpit of the newly built _Great Fox- B_ and also created a single setting that would adjust the controls to her liking. Peppy Hare took his time to train the girl to such controls as those on the bridge.

ROB also received an upgrade that made him more compatible with Michelle's setting on the _Fox_. He was able to control the ship with greater accuracy and a speed of 10x that of the _Great Fox- A_.

Falco Lombardi met his sweet heart on the planet Zoness during the team's vacation directly after the Aparoid Invasion. The two avian lovers went on to have twin boys later. Falco brought them on board the mothership and enrolled them into Fox's academy. Falco was quickly disappointed when his sons showed no thrill for flying or shooting but rather, they preferred the engine room.

Falcin and Hawkeye Lombardi were so alike, Jim (who became the unspoken leader of the junior team) required Falcin to wear blue pants and Hawkeye to wear red pants. Not only did they both look like the splitting image of their father, but they also thought exactly the same. Both preferred the same mechanical settings and mechanical designs. They thought at the same rate and at the same time, most of the time finishing each other's sentences.

Eventually, Falco got to them by teaching them skills with a blaster. Both of them enjoyed the idea of putting holes through an object and both took a quick attunement to shooting. Finally, Falco decided to take his retirement and decided that he was now in the protection of his sons. He retired on Sauria with his wife, Falca.

Fox was quite surprised to find one day that a girl not a year younger than Jewel, had stepped aboard the _Great Fox_. This was indeed, Peppy's granddaughter. She had amazing skills with an Arwing. Fox immediately accepted her on the junior team.

The day after meeting Kiara Hare, another ship landed in the _Fox_'s hangar. This time, a brother and a sister jumped out of the cockpit. Fox recognized them immediately. The girl was a red vixen. She was very beautiful and her figure was light as a feather. Fox knew the girl as Amber Clapp, his godchild and step-niece. Amber told Fox that she had inherited her mother's (Herzelied Clapp) telepathic abilities. She decided to use them for the StarFox team if they would accept her and her brother.

The boy jumped out of the cockpit: Rayn Clapp. Rayn took on his mother's black fur but had his father's facial features. Rayn informed Fox that his parents along with the rest of the Polaris team had moved to the Ganaris System to take care of local troubles there. The war going on forty light-years away was "too dangerous," Fox's step-brother Daniel Clapp, had told them, so they were to take refuge with Fox and his team. Fox introduced them to the rest of StarFox II and introduced them to their step-cousin, Jim.

Jim grew to be instant friends with Rayn. Both had the equal Arwing skills but Rayn had an overactive trigger finger. Jim put him on the ground team along with him and Jewel.

So, Jim introduced Rayn to Jewel. Jewel, was frankly impressed with Rayn's blaster skills, but not so much with his womanizing ways. Rayn fell instantly in love with Jewel. The harder she tried to suppress his love for her, the more he fell in love.

The final count up for the StarFox II team was:

Jim McCloud, lead pilot

Jewel McCloud, public relations 1

Rayn Clapp, public relations 2

Kiara Hare, ace pilot

Michelle McCloud-Grey, command chair

Max McCloud, technician

Amber Clapp, telepath

Falcin Lombardi, mechanic

Hawkeye Lombardi, mechanic

Finally, the remainder of the StarFox team took their retirement as well and joined Falco on Sauria. Fox and Krystal fell deeper in love and spent the rest of their marriage with an eternal passion and peace that they had been longing for since the beginning of Fox's adventure.

But that doesn't mean peace in the Lylat System has come yet…

Corneria, fourth planet of the Lylat System has spread to the planets Katina, Fortuna, and Fichina as a republic promising peace and prosperity. They constantly ask the Lylatian Confederacy on the planets Zoness and Macbeth to join their alliance to promise a greater life for all residents of the Lylat System.

But the Confederates were happy with their ways. True that they had fewer laws, but they had better people. People not corrupted by power, politics, and money. People who didn't require too many laws. The Cornerian Republic wanted to desperately make the Confederacy a part of their Republic.

But they had bigger problems to worry about at the time. A devastating war with the Venomian Empire depleted Corneria's military forces by 30. But the victorious war only gave Corneria's surviving troops greater experience and its military new weapons of war. Finally, all planets of the Lylat System were under Republican control. Save three.

Under the Saurian Independence Act of 18 ABC, the Republic was powerless to colonize the Dinosaur Planet, lest they feel the wrath of the Krazoan Secret Society. But the Confederacy was still there. Mocking the glorious reign of the Republic.

With one quick strike, General Pepper fled to Macbeth for supporting the Confederate cause. And a new general was put in place. General Tiderious Acknus was more ruthless than Pepper ever was. He struck the tropical world of Zoness without warning and caused the deaths of thousands of civilians and soldiers. He sent thousands of troops to Macbeth.

Macbeth was a cold planet, unfeeling, and unforgiving. It was the home of thousands of Ursine warriors. Soldiers not to be underestimated. The war on Macbeth claimed the lives of millions of Confederates and Republicans.

During the early days of the war, StarFox II had to commit to only one front. Jim chose the Macbethan front. But he was beginning to regret it…

"Remember this: _you _don't win unless your team wins. One person winning at the expense of the group means that you lose." - Chief Petty Officer Mendez, _Halo: The Fall of Reach_

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Prologue

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Macbeth

Explosions reigned fire all around Jim. Behind him, he could hear a Confederate Ursine soldier scream before his call was silenced. Jim threw himself forward and took cover behind a rock. He looked to his right. He saw Jewel holding a sniper rifle over a crate and aiming at a Cornerian sentry post.

Machine gun fire came out of the chorus of war noises. Jewel ducked behind her cover just in time for bullets to ricochet off the crate and pass the space her head just vacated.

Jim pressed the COM link in his ear, "Jewel," he said, "I'll cover you."

Jim leaned out from the side of the rock and aimed his AR-2 Standard Assault Rifle at the Cornerian sentry post. There were three Cornerian troops waiting for Jewel to reveal herself again. Their guns were trained on her. Two of them held Cornerian MX-6 Rifles, one had a heavy machine gun. The two with the rifles were shooting at her cover.

Jim stood up and held down the trigger of his assault rifle. The first bullets killed the machine gunner before he hit the ground. The other two Cornerians trained their rifles at Jim and fired semi-automatic rounds at him. Jim ducked behind the rock again.

_CRACK!_

_CRACK!_

He lifted his head over the rock and watched both Cornerians fall to the ground.

"Thanks." He heard Jewel say over the COM.

Jim got up and ran up the hill. He looked back and saw that Jewel wasn't far behind. At the top of the hill was a Confederate bunker. A sniper in a nearby bush guarded the door. He was perfectly hidden, if Jim didn't already know he was there. Jim and Jewel both ran into the makeshift bunker and found Rayn and several other Confederate commandos aiming out of windows toward the west side. Most of them had AR-2s. One had a heavy gatling gun, and two of them had sniper rifles like Jewel's. Rayn carried an AR-4. It had the same characteristics as the AR-2 and 3 but it fired larger caliburs. Rayn was in the center of the bunker trying to get a Confederate COM officer out of his traumatic state.

"He's been like this all morning." Rayn confessed.

"Funny you call this darkness the morning." Jewel said.

"I'd do it myself but every time I take my hands off a weapon, a grenade finds its way in here and somebody's gotta' throw it out."

"I'll take care of it." Jewel snatched the communication's equipment from the youngster's hands and tried calling High Command.

Jim looked out the door with his AR-2 shouldered, "How's everything other than that whole 'grenade' issue?" he asked.

"Fine, fine. We were just waiting for you and Jewel to get back from your recon mission. You know, I should really go on those more." Rayn said.

"You specialize in heavy fire power, we need more of that _here_."

"Jim, General Pepper's on Line 1." Jewel said.

Rayn and Jim switched places as Jim went over to the COM box and connected his own link to it, "McCloud here."

"Jim, this is General Pepper."

"Something going on, sir?"

"We have a high priority mission that may give us the upper hand on this front."

"I take it the 43rd is up to the job?" Jim said, referring to his own team of commandos.

"That's right." Pepper confirmed, "You're going to need to sneak past enemy lines and take out their shield generator. We'll be able to send in air support and rain hell onto the Cornerian lines after that."

"Coordinates, General?"

"I'm sending them now."

The communicator on Jim's belt came to life and hovered at waist level. It displayed a holographic map of the coordinates that Jim was supposed to follow. The mission priority was displayed as: "Destroy Cornerian Power Core." Power Cores were supplies of energy that caused any thing electric within a radius of 100 yards to operate with 100-fold efficiency. Large shield generators that covered entire buildings, and in this case enemy bases, required these to function.

"All right General, leave it to us." He said.

"We'll send a new platoon of infantry to take your place in the bunker. I knew I could count on you, McCloud." The link went dead.

Jewel looked at Jim and said, "Well?"

"We have a new mission. They're sending reinforcements to take our place at the bunker.

"Where we going?"

"Behind enemy lines."


	2. Setting Out

BOOK I

"The enemy has no face." – The United States Marine Core

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chapter 1, Setting Out

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The _Great Fox-B_

Michelle McCloud-Grey had been sitting in the Command Chair of the _Great Fox-B _for over three hours. She'd sat in the chair longer, but she'd actually been doing something. Confederate High Command had her and the rest of the _Intrepid _Battle Fleet on standby in one of the more peaceful parts of the Sector. Michelle's team (Max, Amber and ROB) had been sitting in their chairs for hours as well. Except for ROB, he didn't really have a chair much less the need to sit. So it was just her, Max, and Amber who had been sitting for hours.

Sometimes, she envied Hawkeye and Falcin. The _Fox_'s engine required constant attention, like a baby. Something she longed to have with her husband. A man she hadn't seen in three months.

Speaking of a baby and her husband, she started to think about the early nights of their marriage. Filled with passion and pleasure. Passion unlike any she had ever felt before. She couldn't wait to feel Jim's arms around her body. She wanted to feel his neck on hers. She desperately wanted to hold him. She wanted to be pregnant…

"I'm going for a walk." She informed Max and Amber.

Max stood up from his chair and stretched. Amber stood up, yawned and climbed up the few steps to follow her, "I'll come with you."

When they met up at the door that led astern, Michelle said, "Thanks, I could use the company."

"No problem. I'm getting pretty bored listening to ship's performing minute maneuvers that have absolutely _nothing_ to do with this war."

"War…" Michelle said quietly.

"I hope it ends soon. I really want to get back to meeting guys."

Michelle laughed, "Is that all you want? To start meeting people?"

"Can you blame me? I want to get married. Fall in love, get swept off my feet, start a family. That sort of thing."

"My, my, you sure do have some romantic ideas about marriage."

"Well, you're married. Tell me about it."

"You can imagine the first few nights. Especially during our honeymoon. They were passionate. It was so… so…"

"Sexy?"

Michelle giggled and pushed Amber to the side, "If you must say so. Yes."

Amber smiled, "What was it like?"

"Now don't you be getting any ideas. He is _my_ man."

"Don't worry. I'm not interested in the Captain."

"Good. Because if you were I'd have to throw you out an airlock."

"That's why I want this war to end."

"It will soon enough." As casually as Michelle spoke those words, she knew that they weren't true.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Macbeth Western Front

Five Confederate C-26 Dropships landed behind the bunker that Jim's team was stationed at.

_Where'd they get all these troops to supply us with?_ Jim wondered. But at the moment, he didn't quite care. The commanding officer of the unit, Commander Bli, was a tall lupine who looked like he'd been in the last four wars that happened in this bloody system.

Commander Bli along with three Ursine warriors walked up to Jim and said, "Captain McCloud, my men are here to wish you 'good luck' on your mission."

Jim shook the Commander's hand, "Don't believe in luck, Commander. It's all skill, will, and faith."

"Then good hunting!" he said laughing.

"Will do." Jim said, smiling after the Commander, "We have a traumatic communications officer in the bunker. He's not going to do much except get in the way. Best send him back to High Command to be dealt with."

"I'll deal with him." Bli said.

Jim's COM unit beeped twice. Jim pressed it into his ear and said, "McCloud."

"Jim, it's Kiara." The hare said.

"Kiara, where are you?"

"Right now, I'm in the cockpit of my MK-II." StarFox II had used modified MK-IIs (called MK-IIBs) to distinguish their ships from the Cornerian Arwing Squadrons, "I'm heading up to the _Great Fox _to refuel and check in. Is there anything you need before you guys set out?"

"No, I think we're good. Oh! Please tell Michelle this: I love her very much. And I hope to see her soon."

"I'm not sure how she'll take it. You're being a bit more romantic than usual, Captain."

"Don't worry, she'll know that I'll be fine."

"All righty. Hare out."

Jim ran up to the bunker and looked around. His team would do perfectly for this mission. It was no where near suicide, but it would definitely be dangerous. He counted his squad: himself, Rayn, Jewel, Bentley, Cody, Jars, and Kave. He wished he had one more to complete this mission. Air support might be nice. Especially for taking out that sentry tower.

"Commander Bli." Jim said, pressing the COM to his ear.

"Copy that, Captain McCloud." Bli said.

"Any chance of me borrowing those Dropships?"

"What d'ya need?"

"There's a Cornerian sentry tower right after we leave the safety of the bunker. It'd be nice to get some Nova Bombs and some Heavy Chain Guns for support."

"All right, but HC's gonna' need them in about three hours."

"We'll have it in one." Jim switched off the COM and headed over to the middle of the bunker, "All right commandos. We're heading out again, this time we're going _behind_ the enemy lines. Bring as much fire power you can carry while still being able to move quick and silent. No quitters in this mission. We are all the fingers of a hand. Lose too many of them, and the rest of us are useless."

"We're ready, sir." Cody said. Cody was a very, very short Ursine. He was about the same size as Jim and had one hell of a punch.

"Good. We'll move in five."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The _Great Fox-B_

Max authorized the landing of Kiara's ship in the hangar five decks below. ROB sent the message through the _Fox_'s intercom, "Arwing landing in the hangar bay now."

"That must be Kiara." Amber said.

Michelle downed the rest of her beer and said, "Let's go meet her."

The two rode the elevator down to the hangar and met Kiara on the stairs, "Hey guys." She said.

Michelle looked over the railing and saw three worker droids walk over to Kiara's Arwing and refuel it with a long hose. One of them rearmed it with a new supply of Nova Bombs.

Kiara was tall and slim. It was the first time Michelle actually noticed that she looked nothing like her grandfather except for the fact that she had the same big brown eyes. They were a tad too big for her head. Maybe that's what made her such a great pilot. Michelle's ears preferred to hang forward over her face, but the helmet she wore prevented them.

Michelle was the shortest in the group. Her gray fur made her feel sometimes out of place. But with Kiara there along side them, she felt better. Sometimes she envied Amber. Michelle had always considered her more beautiful than her. She sometimes wondered if Jim would have chosen her rather than herself if he had known Amber sooner.

She pushed those thoughts away and tried to think of what Jim was doing now.

"Michelle? Michelle!" Kiara called.

Michelle shook her head and looked up at Kiara, "I'm sorry? What happened."

"Your husband." She said.

"Really? What happened?"

"He's heading out on another mission. He told me to tell you that 'he loves you very much. And hopes to see you soon.'"

Michelle smiled. Part of her was very happy to here he was doing all right to tell her that. Another part of her was worried if he was just trying to tell her not to worry because he was actually critically wounded. She had heard too many horror stories from the old war that her father had fought in to not think about him being wounded.

"Well, he's alive." Amber said.

"And not getting himself killed, is what I hear." Kiara said.

"Michelle?" Amber asked, "Don't worry about him. If something had happened to him, I'd know by now."

"Yeah." She said, "Yeah, you're right. I'm just being a worried wife."

"You don't have to be. Jim knows what he's doing." Kiara said.

"Attention. Attention. Unauthorized vessel heading for the _Great Fox_." ROB's mechanical voice said over the intercom.

"Enemy fighter?" Michelle said pressing the COM unit that was disguised as a badge that symbolized her StarFox II membership.

"I don't think so. If it was, I doubt it would've gotten so far. I'll have the craft type in a few seconds." Max said.

"I'd best be going." Kiara said.

"Nothing to worry about. It's a Wolfen."

"A Wolfen!" Kiara shouted.

"Yeah. Authorized to… Luke O'Donnel."

"Wolf's son?" Michelle asked.

"Presumably." Max said.

"So, what do we _do_?" Amber asked.

"He probably wants to land in the hangar for whatever reason. We'll find out soon enough."

"I'll find out. Give him clearance." Amber headed back to her station at the bridge.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Macbeth Western Front

"Captain McCloud, this is Echo 921. Waiting for your orders." The Dropship's pilot said.

"Copy that Nine-twenty-one. We need three Nova Bombs over our heads and probably hit the base of the Sentry Tower. Coordinates, 3 seconds west from here. Can't miss it."

"Roger that." Jim heard the Dropship soar over their heads and start drawing fire from the Cornerian guns. Jim looked back to his team of commandos, "All right, ready? Let's go."

Jim made sure his armor was all secured, checked that he had ten grenades, five clips of ammunition for his rifle, his sidearm, his helmet, his COM, and of course, the two-pronged energy blade that Max had made for him- a birthday present.

Behind him, Rayn turned on his energy shield, which absorbed bullets and lasers for a certain amount of hits until they failed and had to recharge. Then the hits started coming through. He carried his AR-4 with him and had seven packs of ammunition on his belt along with twelve grenades on his chest strap. Rayn pulled his sunglasses over his eyes.

"You don't need those." Jewel said, "it's well past midnight."

"Don't need to be day to wear sunglasses."

Jewel flipped down her visor and switched it to night vision. She felt her belt for the equipment she needed: five grenades, submachine gun, extra packs of ammunition for the SMG and her sniper rifle, rations pack.

"We gonna need food on this mission?" she asked Jim.

"Only enough for an emergency."

Jewel decided that her ration pack was enough.

"All right, let's head out." Jim moved forward and took cover after passing twelve yards.

The behemoth that was Rayn moved up almost thirty yards. Yet no shots came towards him due to the C-26 that was playing hell with the Sentry tower.

"Echo 921, do you copy?"

"Captain McCloud, I copy."

"Orders: move back about twenty yards and fire two Nova Bombs at the base of the Sentry tower."

"Copy, Captain." The gray ship moved in reverse for about twenty yards and then leaned forward again, hovering in mid air. Two small objects streaked towards the tower leaving behind trails of smoke. The first missile struck the base of the tower and exploded with a brilliant blue star. The small impromptu guard tower collapsed on itself when the second missile struck beneath the debris and destroyed a bunker that held a Heavy Chain Gun. Jim hoped that all the troops in the outpost were killed because they would probably need to save their firepower for the upcoming mission.

"Thanks Echo 921. We'll clean up the mess."

"No problem, McCloud. Godspeed." The dropship moved back towards the bunker to report back to Commander Bli who was already getting his troops situated at the Bunker.

"Rayn, you, Cody, Jars, and I are going to go down there and check for any survivors. Shoot to kill, unless they surrender. Then shoot them in the arm. Jewel, you and Bentley cover."

"'Bout me, Captain?" Kave asked.

"You're in reserve. Keep your rifle shouldered, but save your ammo."

Jim moved down the hill, following Rayn with his powerful gun in front of him.

"Spread out." Jim said. He moved to the right. Cody and Jars moved farther to the left while Rayn was left in the center of the formation.

From beneath the rubble of the sentry tower, a Cornerian soldier picked his head up and saw Rayn. He immediately reached for his pistol. Rayn automatically pressed the trigger of his assault rifle. Two rounds of ammunition tore through his helmetless head and spilled blood onto the rocks. Rayn walked up to the dead soldier and looked down.

He pressed the COM link in his ear and said to Jim, "You know, sometimes I feel sorry for these poor recruits. They sign themselves up to the Cornerian Armed Forces and have absolutely no idea if they'll get a nice soft desk job in front of a computer watchin' other men die. Or if they'll be the ones assigned to MI… the ones on the screen."


	3. Behind Enemy Lines

"You know that I control the galaxy." – Emperor Andross, _StarFox 64_

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chapter 2, Behind Enemy Lines

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Macbeth Western Front, (Cornerian Zone)

So far so good. There wasn't a trace of the Cornerian's being alerted beyond the fact that they reinforced the bunker they once had at the bottom of the hill with a dozen troops and a Landmaster. Jim wasn't worried one bit about this mission. Rayn had so far been quiet, despite the last remark he made at the Sentry tower. And the other commandos were running fine.

Before them lied an empty valley with the occasional Cornerian scout or sniper and possibly a Greenie that could be patrolling the area. Then they got to the base where the war was being fed petrol.

_Gee, if every mission ran like this, the war would be over_. Jim thought. The war had become more than a job. It had become a cause. For all his life, Jim's father had fought against annihilation, for the right to live. But Jim was fighting for something more… he was fighting for freedom.

"Jim, there's nothing but mines and trenches from here all the way to the Cornerian base." Jewel said.

"I know." Jim said, "We'll need some kind of cover. APC rolls in, we'll be sitting ducks."

"How about we spread out?" Rayn said sarcastically.

"All right, keep COM lines open." Jim said.

His team moved to the side. They all unknowingly checked their ammo counters simultaneously.

_This is where it gets tough_. Jim just knew it.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The _Great Fox-B_

Less than a minute had passed and the Wolfen II had landed in the _Great Fox_'shangar bay. Amber came back to join Kiara and Michelle. The three women walked down the stairs to greet the pilot who they only knew as Luke O'Donnel and none had met prior.

The canopy to the cockpit opened with a hissing noise and out jumped a strong, young wolf. The Luke was about the same size as Jim, weightwise and heightwise, Michelle noted. His facial features resembled his father's from what Michelle recollected from pictures on the internet and the interplanetary database.

"I hope I'm not too late." He said. His voice was deep and commanding. His outfit was that of a true experienced criminal: brown coat, gray pants, Cornerian marine issued combat boots, gloves cut off at the fingers. Michelle was surprised to see that he wore no eye patch.

"For what?" Kiara asked.

"The war."

"The war started a year ago." Michelle said.

"I know, but I ran into a few hitches along the way here."

"Why'd you come here in the first place?" Amber asked.

"My father had some kind of deal with Fox McCloud. They must of finished it 28 years ago due to his helping them 'gainst the Aparoids. Tired of doin' nothing. Decided that since I got no beef with Jim, might as well join him in the war. He's famous among the outer colonies, you know?"

"So I heard. Just never fully believed rumors." Kiara said.

"Well, where do I sign up?" he asked.

"You're welcome to stay based at the _Great Fox_." Amber said. Michelle sensed a certain giddiness in her voice.

"Sure thing. You'll rearm and refuel my ship?"

"'Long as you don't betray us." Michelle said, "We'll be your best friends."

"Look forward to it. But first, I could use some R and R. Got a spare room?"

"Right this way." Amber said. She gestured Luke to follow her to an extra cabin.

Kiara and Michelle watched as Amber led Luke to the elevator to bring him to one of the spare cabins.

"Gee, she hasn't even met the guy and she's already trying to get him in bed."

Michelle giggled, "You wouldn't believe the kind of conversation we were having not half an hour ago."

"All about sex and marriage?"

"How'd you know?"

"She's bugged me about it last time I stopped on board. Only you was sleeping."

"Hehe, she _really_ wants to get married."

"So much so she won't stop and _think_ about what the hell's going on around her. I worry about her sometimes. You'd think a girl with telepathic abilities would be probing through the minds of criminals like Luke O'Donnel. Yet here she is taking him to a room… alone… without a weapon."

"O believe me, she was a weapon."

"And that is?"

"Her mind."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Macbeth Western Front (Cornerian Zone)

"Captain. Contacts sighted, 40 degrees west, my position." Kave said. His voice was very nervous.

"Range?" Jim asked, looking to his left where his medic was supposedly.

"Twelve yards. I'm in a foxhole on the inside of a trench. Two scouts with SMGs. Wearing light armor. Very alert."

"All right. Jewel, did you get that?"

"Copy." Jim found Jewel in his visual and saw her drop to the ground and look through the scope of her rifle. She aimed it at the scouts and fired once. The shot passed through the first scout's head and caused it to explode into a shower of blood onto his buddy.

The second scout saw where the shot had come from and jumped into the sidelong trench. He immediately saw Kave. Kave reached to shoulder her rifle but the scout already had his submachine gun trained on her. Kave tried to close her eyes. She knew that this was the end.

She was going to die.

Alone.

In a foxhole.

By the lowest of Cornerian soldiers.

Suddenly the soldier's chest exploded in a rainstorm of blood as two dozen heavy caliber rounds ripped their way into his heart and lungs.

Kave shielded the blood from her face with her hands and turning her head. When she dared look, she saw only the lower half of a Cornerian body. The upper was nothing but a butchered pile of meat soaked in blood. Kave stood up and looked at the top of the trench. Rayn was standing there. His AR-4 had a small trail of smoke coming off the tip of the barrel.

The medic swallowed and said, "Thanks."

"Stay with me." Rayn ordered her. He pushed the COM link in his ear and said, "Captain, I'm taking Kave under my control due to chain of command and immediate circumstances."

"Copy that Rayn." Jim said.

"Captain, this is Jewel, we got some trouble coming. Somebody must've heard us. We got four Landmasters and an APC headed our way."

"Rayn! You and Kave duck into a trench. You on look out, Kave get in another hole. Jewel, Jars, Cody, stay with me. Bentley, cover."

Jim put a grenade into the front grenade launcher in his rifle and positioned himself on the top of a small hill. He aimed his rifle down into the "street" that led to the Confederate Zone. Jewel and Jars found themselves good spots next to Jim on the same hill. Cody took a spot lower on the opposite side of the hill in a trench. Bentley found himself a hill another 50 yards from the hill that Jim put himself on.

"Jim, trouble our way!" Jim could hear Rayn's rifle coughing bullets. He guessed that there were a half-dozen Cornerian infantry trying to get into the trench that Kave and Rayn were hiding in. They were only going to attract more attention, "Ah! Gorramit!"

Jim wished he could do something. But he knew that the Landmasters were a bigger deal, "Rayn, neutralize all targets. Then find a new hiding spot. Wait for us there."

"Copy."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Confederate High Command

General Cornelius Pepper was standing in front of a holographic map of the Western Battle Front trying to decipher the many symbols that stood for Confederate and Cornerian battle units. From what Pepper could see, the Confederates were boxed in until they could get some gorram air support to lift them out. And if it came to that, where would they go?

Their only hope was the other half of the Confederacy- Zoness. If the Zonesian Armada made it through the Cornerian blockade, they could most likely defeat the Cornerian army.

Of course, everything had to go _perfect_. The 43rd Commando division had to destroy the Western Cornerian Shield Generator so that the Zonesian fighters cold bomb it to hell. The Western Front wasn't as bad as the Eastern Front. Pepper wanted the war in the West to end so they could bring the remainder of their troops to the East.

So far the space front had been quiet.

Pepper smiled. He'd never dreamed in all his life that he'd actually be fighting _against_ the Cornerians. He had fought with such bravery for years to ensure that they survived for generations to come. Of course, it was only _after_ the third war with the Venomian Empire did he really step back and take a look at what he was actually fighting for.

Tyranny.

Pepper looked over at the Western Front. Captain James McCloud of StarFox II, temporary commanding officer of the 43rd Commando division was leading a team of 6 Commandos plus himself into the enemy Zone. Go far enough into the Zone and it was all in the fog. The fog of war.

"General Pepper." Lieutenant Stricken, a tall cheetah said, "news from the space front." The cheetah handed Pepper a manila folder containing a report from far above the surface of Macbeth.

Pepper's eyes widened as he read.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The _Great Fox-B_

"Copy, this is the _Great Fox_. Requesting orders." Amber said into the COM.

"Roger, _Great Fox_. You have a live transmission from General Pepper coming in. I'll put it through to the holonet." Lieutenant Stricken said.

Amber pressed the "live preview" button on the console and then spun around in her chair. The holographic projector put a life-size General Pepper in 3D surrounded by a blue cloud that made him look like he was really there.

"Michelle." Amber said.

Michelle looked up from her computers and saw General Pepper on the hologram. Max and Luke who were also on the bridge looked up at the General.

"General Pepper here." He said, "Captain McCloud, we have a new mission for you."

"I hope you mean the Misses." Michelle said.

"Hehe, you should clear up that deal with your husband sometime soon."

"If I could ever connect with him, I will."

"Good. I have just received the news that an entire Cornerian fleet just warped in via gate?"

"That's correct, General. Approximately 150 warships, mostly Dreadnought Class-IIs, a few Enterprise Cruisers have come in as well. Of course, they're still in the prototype stage in their development, so we'll just have to play into their hand and find out how effective they really are."

"All right, but I want the _Great Fox_ to go on a higher priority mission."

"Is there anything higher priority than defending our planet from the ruttin' Cornerians?"

"No, but that requires soldiers. And air support."

"You want us to retrieve that?"

"Yes. The _Fox_'s hangar can hold twenty C-26 dropships, about 400 soldiers, and dozens of atmospheric fighters."

"Sir, we can hold the soldiers, but not quarter them. The _Fox _is mostly just for the StarFox II team and the rest is for our own use. Almost none of it is for quartering."

"They won't be on the ship long. I'll send you the full mission report now. Pepper out." General Pepper disappeared from the holographic display.

Michelle looked at the mission report that she had on one of her screens. She read the objective, easy enough. She read the coordinates.

_You've got to be kidding me. How'd he get troops from THERE?_

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Macbeth Western Front (Cornerian Zone)

Jim waited silently. Hopefully, the darkness would cover them and the Landmasters would move on past them. Jim preferred these Landmasters as targets over the ones that the StarFox II team used. The SF ones only needed one person to drive and shoot. The standard Cornerian ones required two, one for each job. The only problem with that was that since the body that held the tank together could only cover one troop. The gunner had to stick half of his body outside the ship so he could fire the main cannon.

The gunners made good targets… if they weren't paying attention to you.

"Jewel." Jim whispered.

Jewel looked over to him. Jim made counted down on his fingers. Jewel looked through the scope and aimed it at one of the gunner's head. In the corner of her eye she saw Jim count down from 3…2…1.

_CRACK!_

Jim saw the gunner's body fall limp. The Landmaster stopped. The other three aimed their guns at the hill where Jim, Jewel, Jars and Cody were. Jim and Jars open fired. None of their shots hit.

Jewel stood and threw herself down the hill.

"Go!" Jim said. Jars and Cody followed the leader and his sister. Suddenly, the hill exploded as laser fire from the Landmaster caused it to explode in a hailstorm of dirt and sand. The four commandos scattered and turned towards the hill again. Jewel threw herself behind a thick brush.

Another Landmaster suddenly jumped up from the other side of the hill. Jim aimed his rifle at the Landmaster and fired two short bursts at the gunner. Jars and Cody followed suit.

The Landmaster fired its main cannon at Jars. He jumped and was thrown back from the blast as the laser threw up dirt and earth.

The Landmaster swerved to the left and the gunner let the cannon recharge. Jim let out four more shots at the gunner when suddenly, Rayn got into Jim's line of fire and hooked himself onto the back of the Landmaster. The gunner swung the cannon around and almost hit Rayn's head, which would've most certainly knocked him out.

Rayn dropped his rifle, primed a grenade, and tossed it into the main hatch. Rayn let go of the vehicle and dropped to the ground on all fours.

The Landmaster exploded into a brilliant display of red and orange light.

Rayn watched for a second. The main explosion subsided and now a deep black smoke poured from the remainder of the vehicle.

Rayn turned around and watched as another Landmaster roared up the hill and swerved to aim its cannon at Rayn. Another Landmaster led the way for a dozen Cornerian marines to go down the hill with their rifles shouldered. The second Landmaster aimed its gun at Jim. The marines aimed their weapons at the other commandos. Jewel was the only one completely hidden.

"Think dad ever felt like this?" Jewel asked her brother.

"I feel more like mom."


	4. The Unknown

"The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself." - Teddy Roosevelt

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chapter 3, The Unknown

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Unknown Location

"_Michelle…" a voice called. _

_Michelle looked around. She couldn't see anything. Wherever she was, it was pitch black. _

_It called again, "Michelle." _

"_Jim!" she shouted, "Jim!" she called again. Michelle spun around. There was nobody there but her. Was she going crazy? Or was someone fooling with her mind? _

"_JIM!" she shouted. Surely, he had to be here, "Kiara! Hawkeye! Falcin! Rayn!" She must be going crazy, why would she call Rayn? "Somebody!" she screamed. For the first time she could ever remember, she was scared. What in God's name was going on? Where was everybody? _

"_SOMEBODY!" she screamed again. Michelle crouched down into a fetal position and put her head in her arms. She silently cried. _

_Michelle had once thought herself fearless. She had a gun held to her face in the hands of the enemy. She had piloted a burning battle ship through crossfire in a burning nebula. Yet, here she was, scared of the unknown. _

_The unknown…_

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The _Great Fox-B_

Michelle looked around her room. It was pitch black. She hurriedly reached over to turn on the lamp next to her bed. She looked around in the dim light. It was her bedroom.

Michelle reached to pick up the covers that were on her. She was herself. Naked and alone. She let out a long sigh, "It was only a dream." Michelle buried her face in her hands and let out a dozen tears, "Oh Jim…"

"Captain. Please report to the bridge." ROB's voice came through the intercom, "Captain. Please report to the bridge."

Michelle was in no condition to command at the moment. She picked up her COM unit from her flight jacket on the floor and said, "Max has the con." She went back into her bed and wrapped herself in the covers.

On the bridge, ROB turned his upper body 360 degrees and said, "Captain says 'Max has the con.'"

"All righty then." Max reached to his COM unit, "Hawkeye, Falcin, let's slow down the warp engine. We're coming up on Titania."

"Roger that." One of the Lombardi twins said.

In the engine room, Falcin reached over to the control panel and punched in a few numbers before he pressed 'enter.' The fusion reactor core started to freeze the fusing particles.

Hawkeye was loosening a few valves on the right side of the engine.

"Full stop in 10 seconds."

Falcin counted to ten on his fingers. Hawkeye watched him and held the last valve in his hand tightly. Finally, the last finger went up and Hawkeye released the valve. Falcin pushed the big red button on the control panel.

The fused hydrogen atoms ejected from ship's engines. The main body of the _Great Fox_ was propelled forward due to inertia and the atoms released their final expulsion of energy with a small atomic explosion that was left behind as the trail of the _Great Fox_. The explosion was neither heard nor felt in the _Fox_. Shortly after they were a distance away from the microscopic star, the _Fox_'s breaks went into gear bringing the Dreadnought to a full and complete stop.

Before them lay a ringed desert planet. Titania.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Macbeth Western Front (Cornerian Zone)

Jim suddenly remembered that he had a grenade locked into the launcher in his rifle. It was already shouldered and aimed at the Landmaster that had its cannon pointed at him. He looked around.

"Put down the weapon!" one of the Cornerians aiming a rifle at him said.

Jim didn't move.

"Put it down!" he said again.

Jim looked over at Jewel. She had her sights trained on the one who had his gun on Jim.

"Five…"

Jim pulled the trigger. The front of the Landmaster exploded and it crashed to the ground. The two soldiers next to it were thrown several feet and landed on their faces.

Jim turned his rifle to the left and Jewel turned hers to the right, they opened fire simultaneously planting bullets into the heads and bodies of the Cornerian soldiers.

One of the soldiers ran sideways while firing at Jim. He heard bullets whiz past his ears and body until three skimmed his shoulder at almost the same time. Jim got tired of trying to fire 360 degrees around. He primes a grenade and threw it to where he calculated the soldier would be in the next two seconds. He was dead before he took another step.

Rayn stared down the gunner on top of the Landmaster that was in front of him. If the driver of the Landmaster had a heavy foot, Rayn would be killed despite his shields. If he just stood there, the gunner would get an itchy finger and his shields would deplete enough for another soldier to head shot him.

Finally, he made his decision, Rayn stepped forward and threw himself on the ground. He took hold of his rifle. The Landmaster drove forward. Rayn closed his eyes and hoped he was low enough to the ground.

The light tank drove right over him. Some of the armor underneath skimmed his shields. Rayn stood up after it passed while they shimmered a bright blue. The Landmaster swerved to the left and stopped when it was facing Rayn almost ten yards off. The gunner fired the cannon. Rayn jumped and was thrown back by the force of the blast. His shields were completely depleted. When he finally got his gun arm up, he fired at the gunner while the cannon was still recharging. It aimed for another shot.

_CRACK!_

"Thanks, Bentley." Rayn said into his COM.

Rayn rejoined Jim and the others after he had gunned down two more Cornerians, "Jim, we best be heading off. The Landmasters still have their drivers. The other two. They'll-"

"Be heading back to base and reporting to their hive masters that there's a team of Confederates heading their way. Most likely the base will be more heavily guarded than we expect it to be." Jewel finished.

"You bleeding, Captain?" Jars asked.

"Yeah, nothing. I see you got hit." Jim said, holding his shoulder.

"Just a skim, Cap." Cody said.

"Bentley, c'mon down here." Jim said.

Kave automatically ran over to Jim and Cody when she found out that they were hit. She took out her med kit and bandaged them up in under a minute three seconds.

"Thanks, Kave." Jim said, "All right, we'll need to move fast and silent. Hand signals only. Kave, you're in the middle. Bentley, Jewel, Cody, you guys take up the rear. Rayn, Jars, and I will be lead. We'll follow this trench. It's covered mostly by hills, eventually we'll need to crouch down with some lookouts. Let's move."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The _Great Fox-B_

Finally, Michelle got out of bed and put her clothes on. Not exactly the most appropriate for the situation, but frankly, she didn't care. She instantly saw that the new guest on board was satisfied with her choice in attire. That made her smile a bit. Michelle sat in the command chair and looked on the navigation screen.

Titania. No better place to find an entire army of murderers, mercenaries, and hit men than a dust ball that still resorts to the old ways of slavery. The war must really be going badly for General Pepper to have actually _hired_ criminals to fight the war.

Well, StarFox II was hired. _Never mind_. She thought.

"Captain," Amber said, "the Titanian 'army' has shown us the contract deal that General Pepper signed. I'll forward it to you."

Michelle didn't bother to read the whole thing, but she did skim it to check for any obvious loopholes. Well, at least they weren't getting paid to the point where it was desperation. But they did get the 400 troops that the _Great Fox _could hold. Maybe it was a good deal after all.

"Luke O'Donnel." Michelle ordered. She stood from her chair.

The lupine leaped the steps that led to the Captain, "Yes, ma'am." He said standing stiff as a board.

"I hereby promote you to Gold Commander O'Donnel. You are now in charge of the 400 criminal turned soldiers that will soon be loaded into the hangar bay."

"I accept the responsibility with honor, ma'am." Luke said, bowing.

"Good. You are to use any means necessary to make sure that they don't destroy the ship or even leave deck E."

"Any means necessary. Roger, Captain."

"Head to the hangar bay and wait for their arrival."

"Yes, ma'am." Luke ran off to fulfill his assignment.

Michelle could tell that Luke wanted to say more, but she needed to get him into the commanding officer attitude before he could take _any_ part in this war.

Michelle chose Luke for three reasons: one, he looked like a commander of a ruthless mercenary team. And as far as Michelle was concerned, this was one huge mercenary team. Two, Michelle was certain that Luke would get every single one of those hired guns under his control even if he had to kill every single one of them himself, which she was certain he could do. And third, none of the other team members on board had the same qualities that Luke had. Michelle was very grateful that Luke miraculously found his way to the _Great Fox_.

A holographic image appeared in the projector, "Captain McCloud." The one speaking was a gray coyote with a cybernetic eye. He had a black leather jacket and a DC-15B rifle strapped to his back. Hanging from the belt underneath the jacket was a strip of leather that carried five grenades.

"One out of two." Michelle said.

"You seem a tad out of dress."

"It's casual day."

"Hehe. Well, the order you asked for is ready. My army awaits your clearance for boarding."

"We're ready for you, Mr.…"

"Lieutenant Jackson."

"Lieutenant Jackson. Well, we have an official commanding officer aboard who'll be your temporary superior for the remainder of the war. Gold Commander Luke O'Donnel."

"Whoa, whoa. Let's get one thing straight, my troops answer to me, and me alone."

"Lieutenant, I will not have your criminals running over my ship like a swarm of locust. Commander O'Donnel is a well placed leader and I expect your men to respect him or else he will have to resort to drastic measures."

"Fine, but I expect to be placed among the ranks of your little Confederacy as well."

"And you will Second Rank Lieutenant Jackson."

Jackson just rolled his eyes before his form on the projector disappeared.

"The four C-26s are docking. You think Luke can handle them?" Amber asked.

"We'll find out." Michelle decided that she'd better be dressed more proper.

Gold Commander Luke O'Donnel watched as the four dropships docked with the _Great Fox_'s holding arms and gently lowered them to the hangar floor. He saw legions of Titanian troops, no where near uniformed, file out of the C-26s. Eventually, the dropships had ferried approximately 411 troops to the _Great Fox_.

Finally, a coyote that had a cybernetic eye approached the stairs on the left side that led to the upper part of the hangar. Luke stood in front of the gate that led to the rest of the _Great Fox_.

"Welcome, gentlemen, to the _Great Fox_!" he said with great pride. Luke began walking down the stairs, every step pushed the coyote, along with the rest of the Titanians that followed him, back down the steps.

"I hope you enjoy you short stay here aboard our newly refit vessel, as we take a ride approximately 8 hours long, to the planet of our employment: Macbeth. I ask only that you remain here in the hangar in an orderly fashion."

"Says who?" the coyote asked.

"The Commanding Officer of our vessel, Captain Michelle McCloud-Grey."

"Who do you think _you_ are? Giving us orders?"

Luke pulled his pistol from his holster, "I'm not sure who _I_ am," he pointed the gun at Jackson's forehead, "but my father was Wolf O'Donnel."

Five minutes later, Michelle found her way to the hangar. She wore her StarFox II uniform and made sure she had a standard pistol at her side. She decided not to look around the hangar until she was at the bottom. Already she was surprised to hear silence. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she was amazed by what she saw. Four hundred Titanian mercenaries stood perfectly still in perfect lines and rows. In the front row was Commander O'Donnel. Next to him was Lieutenant Jackson.

"Officer on the deck!" Luke shouted. Every single arm in the room shot up to greet the Captain.

Michelle smiled at Luke. He winked to her.

"At ease." She said. The arms went down, "gentlemen," she couldn't believe she used the term to describe them, "I ask that you do not venture beyond the doors of the hangar that lead astern. Nor the ones that lead to the port and starboard sides. The ride to Macbeth will be short and you are to be ready as soon as we reach the Macbethan Space Zone. You are free to use any of the facilities in the hangar and use any of the ammunition from the small armory we have down here, but please don't take anything unless you absolutely need it." She couldn't think of anything else to say, "Thank you for supporting our cause."

Michelle made her way back to the bridge.


	5. Cornies and Cons

"Hate: watch out for the venom of its first bite." - Tato Laviera, _hate_

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chapter 4, Cornies and Cons

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Macbeth Western Front

ATTENTION ALL CORNERIAN PERSONELL

There is a Confederate Commando Unit that has entered the Cornerian controlled Zone. They are armed and considered extremely dangerous. If you should spot these 7 soldiers, DO NOT repeat DO NOT engage. Fire only if fired upon. They require professional handling. Cornerian Special Forces Units will be on the case. This warning does not include Infantry Units Designated as Snipers.

Signed General Dionysus

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Macbeth Western Front (Cornerian Zone)

It had been less than half an hour before the 43rd Commando division had to duck underneath the visibility of the trench. They had only spotted one Cornerian scout sitting on a hill. Jewel shot him and Rayn quickly disposed of the body.

They moved back into the trench and kept moving west toward the enemy base. Fox held up his fist as the signal to stop. The commandos leaned against the south side of the trench, to reduce their visibility to the Cornerians.

Rayn looked at Jim and made the signal asking if he could talk.

Jim nodded 'yes.'

"Jim, I'm having a hard time believing that we made it all this way into Corny territory and haven't encountered a single hostile since that incident with the Landmasters. That scout havin' lunch doesn't count."

"He has a relevant point, Captain." Jewel said.

"I noticed. I'm trying to make sense of it myself." Jim said.

The noise of vehicle engines could be heard. Rocks and gravel crunched underneath metal wheels.

Jim looked at Jewel and nodded once. Jewel put her rifle down and gripped her SMG tightly. She looked over the wall of the trench and saw six APCs and four Landmasters roll down the road. She couldn't tell if one of the gunners saw them. If they did, they didn't show any sign of knowing. She was almost positive that a trooper in the APC saw them. But why didn't he fire? He couldn't have been _that_ blind. They wouldn't have kept him in the Marines.

"That _is _weird." She said going back to her hiding position in the trench.

"Hopefully we're not dead and don't know it." Rayn said.

"That's the weirdest thing I've ever heard you say." Jim said, "whatever's going on, we keep moving. Keep silent. They just might be listening in."

"That makes me feel better." Rayn said.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The _Great Fox-B_

Michelle went back to the bridge and took her seat at the Command Station. She checked the NAV readouts and said, "All right, let's shut the engine down. We're approaching Macbeth."

"Copy that." Falcin said over the COM. And for the millionth time, Hawkeye and Falcin performed the maneuver that caused the _Great Fox_ to slowly deteriorate the hyper space stream around them and go through a trans-dimensional rift to land in normal space, then continue with their momentum to miss being torn to pieces by a nuclear explosion and then breaking to stare at a planet in the front view port.

Except this time, there were hundreds, if not thousands, of objects in front of the planet. They were at least 12,000 kilometers away, but that still didn't make Michelle or any of the other bridge crew feel any safer from the massive Cornerian armada.

"Amber." Michelle said, without adverting her eyes, "How many are there?"

"At least 5,000."

"Dear God in heaven. There's no way we can win this war."

"Shut up, Max." Michelle said.

"I mean, given the odds. There's absolutely no chance-"

"MAX! I gave you an order! Is that so hard to understand?" she shouted at him.

Max didn't say anything at first. He finally decided it was best to apologize, "Sorry… Captain."

"Never mind it. Just, get us back to Confederate space."

"Captain, we're being hailed."

"By who?"

"_C.S.S. Visorak_. Cornerian Enterprise."

"Put it on visual."

Amber pressed the 'live preview' button and was greeted by a Cornerian Captain. Her uniform was pure white. There was a parade of colorful emblems on her chest and three medals that dangled from underneath them, "Captain Michelle McCloud, I presume? I am Admiral Kreanus: Commanding officer of the Third Cornerian Armada. My inquiries to StarFox II's presence in this Sector?"

"I think you're well aware of our presence on Macbeth and who we support."

"I thought it was just a job, with the Confederacy."

"Well, some of us have taken a full stance on it."

"I see. Well, Captain, I cannot let you go any further. This area is quarantined by the Cornerian government. Order 2114, Section 9."

"Admiral, I'm requested to report back to Confederate controlled space. If I'm too late, my husband could have me demoted."

"I'm terribly sorry for your marriage problems, but maybe you shouldn't have sided with the Cons."

Michelle was shocked that such a prestigious position would go to someone who would use derogatory terms directly to the enemy's face. Usually, especially Admirals, officers knew not to underestimate the enemy.

"Now, if you would please turn around, take whatever you have aboard your vessel and return the stolen Cornerian property to its rightful owner." The transmission ended and Admiral Kreanus disappeared from the hologram on the projector.

Anger grew inside Michelle. How dare she call her a Con!

"Firing solution on the _Visorak_!"

"Captain, you're not serious." Max said.

"I want one, now!"

"Captain, we're not sure what these things can do!" He persisted.

"He's right, Captain. These things could rip us like tissue paper, for all we know." Amber said.

Michelle sighed.

The unknown.

Why wasn't she afraid?

Hate.

_Gorram Cornies. _She thought, but she'd never say it to their faces. Not only was it an underestimation of the enemy's abilities but it also caused them to feel how Amber felt, hateful. And hate caused an enemy to become either 1. extremely dangerous, or 2. utterly foolish. The question was: could Michelle guide her hatred as professionally as she hoped she could?

"Firing solution. Main guns."

This time, Max didn't object. He just sent the orders to ROB who forwarded them to the Captain's computer. Michelle looked at them, "Perfect." She said. No one heard her.

In the velvet black of space, a silver armored ship labeled _Great Fox_ hovered thousands of kilometers above the Macbethan surface far away enough to control its own trajectory in the gravity ridden space. Two black nozzles protruding from the front of it underneath the cockpit glowed bright yellow.

If sound could be heard in vacuum, the Cornerian vessel, _C.S.S. Visorak_, named after the ancient Krazoa legend of the "stealers of life" written in the Biological Chronicle which has been told by mouth to this day, would have had plenty of time to evade the _Great Fox_'s fire.

Two yellow beams of light protruded from these nozzles and impacted the _Visorak_. The Enterprise Starship had enough warning to move itself forward only to have its engines obliterated by the superheated blasts of light. Hundreds of lives were lost in the volley.

The _Great Fox _moved forward, Captain McCloud ordered 20 of the hundreds of Super Nova Missiles onboard the Dreadnought to lock onto the _Visorak_'s cockpit area. The sides of the _Fox _opened and the missiles ejected from their canister and begun their sole journey to the opposite end of space.

Three of the missiles impacted the huge head of the Enterprise when two small missiles, only a tad larger than the Super Novas came from the _Visorak_ and started flying toward the _Fox_.

"Michelle! Nuke!"

"ROB! Get us out of here!" she ordered.

"Captain!" Max said, "Crazy Ivan!"

"ROB! Crazy Ivan!" Michelle switched.

"Copy, Initiating Priority Alpha Maneuver."

The _Great Fox_ turned away from the missiles and started moving at flanking speed. Michelle watched as their speed went higher and higher. Finally, it reached its max. The missiles were still catching up. All they needed was for the Hyper Space generator to get ready for an on/off burn.

"Warning, initiating turn… now."

ROB turned the ship 180 degrees as fast as Michelle's heart beat and then initiated the Hyper Space generator. The _Great Fox _disappeared in a spectacle of light and then reappeared on the opposite side of the _Visorak_. The fused molecules ejected from the _Fox_'s engine and were close enough to the Cornerian vessel to burn out all of its electrical circuits.

The other two nukes that ROB had fooled had headed off into opposite directions of space before they detonated harmlessly.

Michelle breathed.

A moment too soon.

"Missile!" Amber shouted.

The _Visorak _let out one final Nova Missile that found its way to the _Great Fox_'s upper port wing.

"Evasive-"

But it was too late, half of the wing was buried beneath fire and the _Great Fox _was thrown into an uncontrollable spin.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Macbeth Western Front (Cornerian Zone)

Lieutenant James Unaria was the Commanding Officer of the 107th Cornerian Special Ops team. In front of him stood four perfectly able equivalents of the Confederate Commandos. The only thing was, they were better. They were dressed entirely in black. All had sharp combat knives and a submachine gun at their sides. With their rifles, either M-21 or the prized Sniper Rifle, they looked fearless. To add an extra touch of death, they each wore visors that made them look like they had three eyes, one in the middle and above of the other two.

The visors let them see in almost any kind of vision: heat vision, ultraviolet, echo visor, scanner, zoom lens, and a dozen others that had little use to the 107th.

Lt. Unaria read the official statement from General Dionysus for the twelfth time. It was about time they were sent out again. Wars with fronts never amused the Lieutenant or any other Special Forces unit. They were almost rarely sent out to battle as the "Regulars" got to have all the fun. Or the worst experience in their entire life.

There was no sound. There was no need. In a war where the Confederates cut out your tongue and fed it to their pets, sound was obsolete. Unaria covered his eyes with his visor and then made a signal with his two fingers motioning them to move out.

It was time to hunt.

"Rayn, coast clear?" Jim asked.

Ryan looked over the edge of the trench, nothing. He gave the thumbs up for Jim and Jewel to take a look. The two McClouds looked over the edge of the trench with their rifles in front of them. There was no living creature in sight.

"Cornies must be scared off." Rayn said.

"No, there's somethin' goin' on and I don't like it." Jim said.

"Jim!" Jewel whispered. She motioned to get down slowly. Jim looked over and saw her putting the sight of her rifle to the area of her visor where her eye would be.

In infrared vision, Jewel could see the outline of a Cornerian soldier. She wasn't sure what kind it was, but she was positive that he was going to take aim. Suddenly, he ducked under the cover of a barrier. He must've seen her.

Jewel ducked back under the safety of the trench and said, "Contacts. Behind the barricade. Not sure how many, but we're in trouble."

"All right," Jim looked over the trench and saw a barricade disguised as an overturned APC on the other side of the dirt road that the Cornerians had made use of.

Dirt exploded right in front of him as a hail of bullets missed their mark and tore up the ground. Jim ducked back into the trench. Rayn looked over the wall and sprayed his AR-4 bullets in the general direction from where the enemy's fire had come from.

In response came more bullets from the Cornerian soldiers under cover. Jars leaned over the edge of the trench edge and started firing his assault rifle. Another Corny fired back. Jars ducked into the trench to avoid the bullets.

Rayn's shield flared blue and its charge kept falling like a rock but Rayn stood like a stonewall and kept spraying his fire like a garden hose at the Cornerian troops.

Jars leaned back over to fire. Jim watched as the back of Jars' helmet opened up to a crimson red color. Jars' dead body fell to the ground in a heap of lifeless flesh.

"We have a KIA! Repeat, KIA!" Rayn said over the roar of the assault rifle's automatic fire.

Kave made her way to Jars' body and checked for vitals. She knew it was unnecessary to do so anyways, she did it out of regulations.

Finally, seven of Rayn's bullets found their target in the body of a Cornerian soldier over the hill on the opposite side of the road. The soldier fell back, the finger of his rifle still held a death grip, bullets littered the air and played hell with any aircraft flying low over head.

_CRACK! _

The second soldier over the hill was hit in the side of the head by a high-caliber round from Jewel's sniper rifle.

Rayn ducked into the trench, "All right, snipers finally got on the job." He said to Jim, "What we gonna do with Jars?" he said more solemnly.

"I'm not sure." Jim said.

Bentley had been waiting for a long while for the other soldier to come from his cover behind the barricade. He had his scope trained on the left side of it- where the soldier was seen last. If he came around, he was a dead man.

The sniper, unfortunately, was faster. He leaned from his cover and fired at Bentley in a split second.

The shot sung at Bentley and flew straight through the scope, his eye, and finally his cerebellum. Bentley was dead before he hit the ground. Just like Jars.

"KIA, we have another KIA, Captain!" Jewel shouted.

_Gorram Cornie,_ Jim thought, "Rayn! Jewel! Take him down."

Rayn's shields were fully charged. He and Jewel simultaneously jumped from their cover of the trench, both wielded their automatic weapons. Rayn had his AR-4 and Jewel her submachine gun.

They both made sure the ammo counter was set to full and they open fired at the barrier. High and low caliber bullets riddled the already weakened barricade to almost nothing. Just to make sure the Cornerian was really dead, they rounded the barricade on different sides and used the Cornerian as a bullet magnet.

Rayn leaned down to examine the body. He immediately noticed the third eye in the middle of the soldier's forehead, "Special Forces." He said.

"Gorramit." Jewel said, "Jim, we have a major problem."

"What's going on?"

"Special Forces. We're still noticed by the Cornerians, but they're hunting us. Trust me, these won't be the last ones."

Rayn stripped the Spec. Forces unit of his insignia: Cornerian Grand Army, 92 Special Forces Team, Colonel Timothy Gregaria.

"Sure do have some fancy titles." Rayn said.

"Rayn, come here." Jewel said.

Rayn looked over and saw here looking at the sky with her visor, "What is it?"

"Tell me what you make of that." She handed him the visor and pointed up to the sky.

Rayn looked through the visor which was set at x12 zoom. He immediately saw Cornerian Arwing MK-IIIs flying from the Cornerian base in the distance. Their direction was east.

"Jim, we might just have a problem."


	6. Side Mission

"You wanna fight the power? You need the power to fight!" – The O.C. Supertones, _One Voice_

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chapter 5, Side Mission

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Macbeth Western Front (Cornerian Zone)

"Jim, those Arwings get any closer, we're all going to be a different color here." Rayn said.

"What do you suggest oh wise one?" Jim asked.

"Get me a long range, explosive weapon and I might be able to take them down."

"Like a rocket launcher?"

"That'll do." Rayn said.

"Give me a minute, what can you do until then?"

"Find a turret or an anti-air missile launcher. Until then, not much." Rayn continued to scan the skies for more air craft. He saw that there were only four of the original Arwing squadron still heading their way.

"Jewel, c'mere." Jim said.

Jewel grabbed her visor and went to where her brother was and said, "Yes, cap'n?"

"Look, we have two KIAs. That leaves you, Rayn, me, Kave, and Cody. I'll take Cody over to that Cornie camp over there." Jim pointed toward the north. Jewel looked through her zoom goggles toward where Jim was pointing and saw a small barracks and a few more buildings surrounded by a bon fire. There was a turret in the front of the camp on a smaller road that led to the bigger road that the 43rd Commando division was currently on, "We'll rain hell on the camp, grab a rocket launcher, and get the rut out."

"What do we do, Captain?" Jewel said.

"Stay here and see if you can keep those Arwings busy any way possible."

"Won't that be hard? Without proper equipment?"

"This isn't High Command," Jim said, "we don't have time to plan for every nut and bolt we're going to need for every second of every minute. We're the commandos. Improvise!"

Jim motioned for Cody to follow him northward.

Cody followed immediately holding his assault rifle close. He looked scared.

"You ok, Cody?" Jim said putting his arm on his shoulder.

"I-I'm ok, sir."

"Listen, we're commandos. We're the best the 'Fedracy's got. And if we're the best, and you crap out on me now, I don't want to know what the guys on the front are like. Got it?"

"We're the best, sir."

"Look, Bentley and Jars, they was good men. But good men die in war. That's the sad part."

Cody swallowed and then checked his ammo counter, "I'm ready." He said.

"Good man." Jim led the way to the Cornerian camp.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The _Great Fox-B_

It was half an hour before the crew of the _Great Fox_ was back in control of their own ship. Michelle took the deepest breath of her life once the _Fox _was back behind Confederate lines and still under their control.

General Pepper's head popped up on the holoscreen, "General Pepper here."

"General Pepper." Michelle said, "We missed you."

"That was quite the maneuvering back there."

"With the _Visorak_? It was nothing."

"Your ship was blown out of control. Are you sure about that?"

"Nothing the StarFox team couldn't handle."

"Well, the Cornerian armada is preparing to assault Confederate space. They're amassing hundreds of ships on the other end of the quadrant."

"Listen, we'd do a lot better if we could drop this load somewhere. We've got 400 soldiers in our belly here. Causin' a belly ache for the _Fox_."

"All right, drop them off on East Command. I'd like to have every available ship ready for the upcoming assault."

"Sir, are you sure it's wise? Lining up our ships like a bunch of militia from the Enlightenment Era?"

"The Cornerians aren't going to give us enough lee-way to create a better plan."

"All right, we'll drop off these soldiers at the surface."

"Meet back with you in an hour." General Pepper's head disappeared.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Macbeth Western Front (Cornerian Zone)

The 107th Cornerian Special Forces Unit moved silently across the Macbethan plains. Commander Unaria had led his team completely hidden from his own units so as not to be conspicuous if the Commandos should spot him. He had called in for air support to scout out the area. If they saw the commandos, they would shoot. The Confederates would have no choice but to fire back.

Hopefully, that would give away their position completely.

Then again, one never hoped for anything in war.

"Commander." One of the units said, "Heat signature. Unidentified. No Cornerian tags."

"Non-friendly then."

"Affirmative."

"Heading?"

"Regulars base camp. 0233 degrees west of this position."

"Confederates."

"Show no mercy."

Jim told Cody to be completely silent. Hand signals only. So far, Cody had passed with flying colors. Jim looked across the gap between him and his subordinate and made a signal pointing to his gun and then made a motion with his finger signaling a trigger.

Cody nodded to show that he understood.

Jim straightened his hand and moved it from his mouth, out and down.

Cody nodded again.

Jim looked over the barrier he was hiding behind and looked at the camp. There was a tripod gun at the front of the camp, to the right of Jim's position. There was an unused LRV towards the back of the camp just sitting there. Six tents formed a circle. A more sturdy barracks was next to the LRV.

Twelve Cornerian soldiers were sitting around a camp fire waiting for something in a pot over the fire to cook. Their weapons were close by.

Jim looked over at Cody. He waved him past towards the tripod gun. Cody moved backwards silently. The night covered his movements.

Once Cody stopped moving, he looked back at Jim and gave him a thumbs-up sign. Jim nodded and moved his assault rifle over the top of the barrier. He pointed it toward the Cornerians sitting around the fire. Cody pointed his weapon at the soldier manning the tripod gun.

Jim counted with his fingers toward Cody, 1… 2… 3!

He pulled the trigger and 12.5 mm wide pieces of lead exploded from his weapon and sprayed like a water hose towards the enemy. Two of the soldiers were dead before they heard the first sound of fire.

Jim didn't look over at Cody. He just trusted that since heavy bolts of ammunition weren't being shot at him, that Cody had killed the Cornie.

Several seconds passed when some of the Cornerians finally got their heads together and realized they were being attacked. They grabbed their weapons and started to fire at Jim, too late for half of them.

Jim saw Cody in the corner of his eye stand up and start firing a continuous stream of bullets at the Cornerians.

"Cody!" Jim yelled.

He was drawing their fire away from Jim. Jim took this instant to throw one of his grenades at the Cornerians. In one blinding flash of light, the remaining five Cornerians were thrown to the ground and killed by one of Jim's bullets.

Jim and Cody regrouped at the Cornerian camp.

"Don't EVER do that again!" he said.

"I was drawing their fire. I figured you'd have an easier time-"

"I can handle myself. Thank you very much, I appreciate the effort, but right now is not the time for heroics."

"I'm sorry, Captain. Won't happen again."

"Better not." Jim said.

Jim ran to the back of the camp and grabbed two Cornerian bodies. He stripped them of ammunition and grenades and replenished his supply. He and Cody put all of the bodies back in the tents so as not to look conspicuous. He went into the barracks and found the blast door locked.

"Gorramit." He said.

"Here." Cody threw Jim a ring of keys he must have found hanging from the Commanding Officer's belt.

Jim caught the keys and quickly used each till he found the right one. Jim went into the barracks and found it stocked with high-powered explosives and enough weapons to arm another whole army.

"Hm… must be some kind of supply depot." Jim said.

He spotted a homing launcher instantaneously. Jim grabbed the launcher, found it empty and loaded it with three rockets. He grabbed a spare supply and then headed out the door.

"Rayn, how's everything?"

"We've been hiding from the Arwings. So far so good." He said.

"That's not exactly exciting news, but I guess it's good."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The _Great Fox-B_

ROB maneuvered the _Great Fox _to the surface of planet Macbeth and then landed it on the ground with pinpoint precision. Which was a good thing because anything less would have been a mistake on Falcin's part for not updating the android in the last two weeks. This would have caused some extreme tension between Captain McCloud and the programmer/mechanic because Michelle didn't exactly like a faulty robot.

Michelle preferred space rather than the groundside where you were slave to gravity, but at the same time relieved that you didn't have to depend on machines for air, mobility, and the gravity that was- at times- useful as much as Michelle hated to admit.

"Luke, how's things down there?" she said through the COM link.

"Just unloading the troops. Expect to be back in orbit in less than fifteen minutes."

"Copy." Michelle turned to Amber, "Check the war report."

Amber turned a video feed of a Confederate reporter reporting from the front lines of the Eastern Front.

"…Cornerian lines have been pushing back the Confederate infantry as far back as the Neime River and show no interest of slowing their advance. Of course, Confederate High Command is questioning whether the use to put all of their force on the Eastern Front is as wise as putting their forces on the Western Front. It's a debate that has split High Command."

Michelle waved it off. Amber obeyed.

This war had become more than a job. To her it had truly become a cause: a piece of her heart that truly shone for the good of the Lylat System. To fight against annihilation was one thing. To fight against tyranny was another.

StarFox had fought against total control and the fear that Andross would put into the hearts of people. Then again against the destruction of the Lylat System. And then one more time against total annihilation from the Aparoid Hordes.

They were StarFox II, with a new cause: Freedom.

Soon, the _Great Fox _was back where she belonged- in space. Kiara had rejoined the team on board.

"Kiara, what're you doing here?" Amber expected her to be helping the groundside campaign.

"It's getting hot up there. You guys are gonna need some close protection once things get hotter."

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

ROB turned the _Fox _around and before them laid the no-ship zone between the Cornerian ships and the Confederate ones. Trails of smoke, beams of light, explosions and dirigibles flooded the area to make a dangerous battlefield.

Michelle stared at the sight in horror.

"I don't think it can get any hotter." Max said.

"ROB," Michelle ordered, "get us back to Confederate lines. Pronto!"

"Roger roger." ROB started to maneuver the _Fox _back towards the Confederacy's brown cigar shaped vessels. Two Cornerian Enterprises followed them unseen from the scopes of Confederate ships.

"Warning… warning. Two Cornerian Enterprise Cruisers in pursuit.

Max checked the rear view of the _Fox_, "Why aren't they firing." He redirected the feed to Michelle.

"I don't know. Maybe they're trying to get through the Confederate lines without finding too much resistance."

"They use us as a shield." Amber said.

Michelle opened a COM link to Kiara and Luke, "Guys, get out there and help out."

"Michelle, what can two fighters do against two cruisers?" Kiara asked.

"I don't know, but that Arwing is modified and I'm assuming Luke's Wolfen is better than common ones."

"It's a hell of a lot better. Just follow me Kiara. Cover me, I'll take care of the Cornerians."

Michelle heard the sound of two star fighters exploding out of the hangar bay.


	7. Commando vs Commando

"Nobody asks to be a hero. It just sometimes turns out that way." – Sgt. Matt Eversmann, _Black Hawk Down_

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chapter 6, Commando vs. Commando

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Macbeth Western Front (Cornerian Zone)

Jim carried the homing launcher across the camp when suddenly he heard a loud _CRACK!_

He dropped to the ground out of sheer instinct and then pulled up his own assault rifle. Jim pressed the COM link to his ear and said, "Jewel, please tell me that was you."

"'Fraid not, Captain."

"Oh, shiny." He said sarcastically, "Cody, you still with me?"

"Everything's A-OK, Cap'n."

"Rayn?"

"He's stayin' silent."

"Sure…" Jim looked over the barrier he had thrown himself behind.

Bullets whistled past his head and ricocheted off of the barrier. Jim ducked back under. A few seconds later, he heard the enlightening sound of an AR-4. The two gunners shared bullets for no more than fifteen seconds and then were silent again.

Jim leaned out from the side of the barrier and fired his AR. At least one of them tore through the body of the Cornerian soldier that was firing at Rayn. If they didn't, then he wouldn't have known because a faulty sniper rifle that just missed taking off Jim's head convinced him to get back behind the barrier.

"Jewel?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you pin-point the enemy?"

"I can, they're less than a half a klick from my position. I don't want to fire unless I'm sure I can get some cover from Rayn or else I'll be a lead magnet."

"Cody and I will take care of that."

"Can't let you do that, sir."

Rayn's assault rifle was firing again. In mid-stream, Jim could also hear the assistant fire of a magnum pistol. Rayn was duel-wielding. A technique that Jim had dubbed "extremely dangerous in the face of a professional enemy, they consider it an insult- don't insult a professional."

But, Rayn was constantly proving Jim's opinions on guns and weaponry false anyways, so Jim let it slide.

"Cody, we're gonna start shooting."

"That's news."

"Covering Jewel. Go!" Jim leaned over the barrier and sprayed lead to where the Cornerian were…

Unaria leaned underneath the cover of his own barrier and ejected a spent clip of ammunition.

_Damn Cons are too good,_ he thought, _I have to meet this commander. _

Already they had had one KIA. There was a large commando over the ridge firing at them with a bigger assault rifle than the ones the other ones were using. He appeared to be a black vulpine. There were two down at the camp trying to draw fire away. And there was a sniper somewhere in between.

Four Confederates Commandos vs. Nine Cornerian Special Forces soldiers. The odds weren't exactly even, but the Confederates seemed to be winning.

Yes, he had to meet this commander.

Unaria dropped his rifle and poked his head out just enough to let the third eye on his visor look down toward the camp. He magnified it to look at the two Confederates shooting from behind the barriers by the camp. The one on the right was smaller. He wore the common Confederate oval-shaped helmet. The small ursine had light-weight Commando body armor covering him as much as Unaria could see. The one on the left was a tall vulpine. He had no helmet and wore only shoulder armor over a leather jacket of some kind. He looked a lot like… a mercenary.

Instantly, Unaria knew who the commander was: Captain James McCloud Jr.

Jim looked over to the side just in time to see Cody get hit with some kind of stun pistol. A bolt of static electricity made it way through his back and then he passed out… hopefully. The bullets from the Cornerian troops stopped shooting, at least in his direction. He could hear them taking care of Rayn, or Rayn taking care of them.

But Jim was too busy to worry about Rayn. Standing over Cody's limp body was a Cornerian Special Forces Commander. In his hand was a pistol with an enormous barrel and a metal cylinder.

"Captain McCloud. I've been looking forward to the day we met." He said.

"What? How do you know my name?" Jim asked.

"Oh, everyone knows your name. Did you think that your heroics during the Cornerian assault on Zoness would go unnoticed by the Cornerian intelligence? Confederate television expands far beyond its own borders."

"I'll address that issue to High Command next time I see them." Jim noticed he was still in the firing position towards the Cornerians that were no longer shooting at him. He stood up to face the now-present enemy and pointed his rifle to the ground, but kept his finger on the trigger.

"Tell me, do you know how many men you've killed?"

"I'll have to count the new ones in the past twenty-four hours, but last time I checked: 122."

"That's quite a deal. Do you know their names?"

"Most of them. I keep track."

"You, police their identification tags."

"Most of them Cornerians."

"That's interesting. Though you're not the first one I've met."

Jim didn't say anything.

"Captain McCloud, my name is James Unaria. I've researched your profile at the beginning of the war. You worked yourself to leader of StarFox II shortly after graduating. Damn fast too. You bear a striking resemblance to your grandfather, James McCloud of the first StarFox team."

"I get that a lot."

"The three of us are a lot alike. Leaders. Intelligent. Strong. A lust for glory."

"I don't _lust_ for glory."

"What _do_ you lust for?"

"I don't lust for anything. I just want justice served."

Unaria smiled, "That makes three of us."

Jim was tempted to lift his rifle and shoot the gorram Cornie where he stand.

"Tell me, do you honestly think that you're fighting for freedom?"

"Yes." Jim answered.

"Good."

Jim lifted his rifle but Unaria was faster. He lifted the cylinder just as Jim pointed the gun at him. Instantly a glowing blue dual-pronged blade extended horizontally from the cylinder and sliced the rifle in two.

_Gorramit, an energy sword. _

"Luckily." He said to himself. Jim pulled out his own sword and ignited it.

"You're a swordsman?" Unaria asked.

"It was a birthday present."

"Impressive."

There was an awkward silence between the two of them.

Then Jim lifted his sword and brought it to a downward strike aimed at Unaria's neck. The Cornerian defended himself by feinting to the right and parrying with his own sword. Jim followed through with the attack and rolled so that Unaria was now in his former position and he was in his.

Jim was crouched and ready to attack. Unaria had drawn his sword back and had his pistol held backwards so it was pointing behind him.

"Think I'm gonna fall for that?" Jim said.

Unaria smiled an evil smile and then leaped forward. He swung his sword in a long arc at Jim. Jim parried with his own sword but wasn't prepared when Unaria pulled an uppercut and brought Jim's sword high in the air. His body was completely exposed for what happened next.

Unaria pulled his gun upright into his hand and aimed it at Jim's torso.

Jim took the split-second he had and kicked as high as he could and knocked the pistol from Unaria's hand. Once Unaria recovered from the shock seconds later, he took hold of Jim's still held high ankle and brought it up further.

Jim screamed in pain, "Gorram-"

He punched Unaria in the face as hard as he could.

Unaria couldn't believe how hard he was hit. He had thought he could handle anything. He had been attacked by the Cornerian Special Forces veterans who beat the trainees to no end at least once a month. But McCloud, that was something else.

When Unaria had popped his jaw back into place, he stood up and looked at McCloud who was tending to his leg.

"Good hit, McCloud. That'll make some nice war stories. And make me all the more proud to have your pelt over my mantle." Unaria walked up to Jim with his sword held high.

_Yes, it would be a shame to waste such a fine pelt on my daughters_, he thought.

Unaria raised his sword higher and brought it down aimed at McCloud's neck.

McCloud waited till the energy blade was only a foot away from his body before he dodged out of the way from the burning plasma and then moved back into the enemy to plunge his own blade into Unaria's shoulder.

Burning, singing, screaming pain ran through Unaria's body and turned his blood to steam. His entire right arm went dead and he dropped the sword. For the first time in his life, Lieutenant James Unaria screamed. He could feel his bones tensing and the moisture from his body drying to dust.

"Yeah. Plasma going _into_ your body doesn't feel very nice. I know first hand, and so do you. That's another thing we have in common." McCloud said.

Unaria had had enough of McCloud's taunts. Finally, the pain had conformed to his body. It was a part of him. Just as every other feeling and emotion eventually became a piece of him that he had to conform to. You couldn't separate yourself from it. He would carry this scar the rest of his life, no matter how long that was.

"You wouldn't just let this blade burn through me? Would you?" Unaria said.

"You know… I'd really like to. But that'd be an insult to my brother – Max. He made it for me and I kinda like it."

McCloud reached down to the ground and pulled out the sword instead of shutting off the blade first.

Before that moment, Unaria didn't think he could feel any more pain than when the plasma had first gone into his body. Unfortunately, he was wrong.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!" He screamed again.

"Well, now you're alone. Because the guy who did that to me shut the blade off first."

"McCloud… I'm going to kill you if it's the last thing I do." Unaria promised. His right arm was dead and his left arm was supporting the rest of his body.

"You know, I never fully understood the purpose of the third eye on top of the other two for you Spec. Ops soldiers. It kinda looks… like you're some kind of freak."

"Only one of my eyes is real. A Venomian soldier dug it out with his bare claws back in the Lylat War."

"Interesting to know. I'll keep that in mind."

McCloud went into his long leather jacket and pulled out what looked like a hand made Katinan revolver. Long barrel, ten-shots, very very nice.

McCloud aimed the pistol at Unaria's left eye.

Unaria heard a loud _BANG! _

Then he heard nothing at all.

Jim looked down at the dead body, "Good riddance." He bent down and ripped the identification patch from Unaria's shoulder, "Your patch will go very fine in my collection. I'm not much for pelts."

Jim walked over to Cody and shook him on the shoulder, "C'mon man. Get up!"

Cody rolled over onto his back and said, "Ugh… Captain. I'm sorry. I just… don' feel like I… can keep… going… the shock… took it all outta… me."

"Don't worry; we'll get you to Kave. Or the other way around."

Jim stood up and ran to his other three team mates. Rayn was busy policing the weapons and gear of the dead Cornerian Spec. Ops.

"Y'know, usually the sniper's job is to defend those in rough positions." Jim said.

"Sorry, one of the Cornies started getting too close so I pulled out my SMG and took care of him. Besides, Rayn was in bigger trouble than you were."

"I strongly doubt that. Where's Kave?"

"Right here, Captain." Kave was standing some distance to Jewel's right.

"Still alive?"

"I feel fine."

"Fine?" Jim said.

"I feel great." She said.

"Good, get down here then because Cody's wounded."

"Coming."

"Jim, c'mere." Rayn said.

Jim pointed to where Cody was for Kave. Then he ran over to Rayn, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, but if we don't get to the target fast we're going to be dead meat. They're just going to send more and more teams to kill us all."

"I'm aware of that. But, if you look over there." Jim pointed to the south.

Rayn looked over and saw what he'd wanted to see for a long time.

The Cornerian base in all its splendor, lay like a sleeping farm before them.

"Muerte, me llamo Rayn."


End file.
